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Lot Essay
Martin Carlin, matre in 1766
Arguably the most celebrated bniste of the Louis XVI period, Martin Carlin appears to have worked almost exclusively for the marchands-merciers. Married to the sister of Jean-Franois Oeben in 1759 and established au signe de la Colombe in the Grand-Rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine, Carlin shortly afterwards entered into the longstanding relationship with Simon-Philippe Poirier that would dominate his career. On Poirier's death, Dominique Daguerre succeeded to the business in the rue St. Honor, and it was almost certainly Daguerre who commissioned the Alexander table circa 1775-80.
With its characteristic floral arabesque 'rinceaux' marquetry to the undertier, this table appears to be identical to the Svres porcelain-mounted table in the Collection of Baron Guy de Rothschild at the htel Lambert, Paris (C.Frgnac and J.Wilhelm,
The Great Houses of Paris, London, 1979, front cover and opposite
p.75). Two further tables of almost identical model, stamped by Carlin but veneered with dot-trellis parquetry and with Svres porcelain tops, are recorded:- the first, undoubtedly supplied by Daguerre to the Grand-Duchess Maria-Feodorovna, was sold anonymously at Christie's Geneva, 8 May 1973, lot 61; the second, possibly also acquired from Daguerre by Francis Gilson Shepheard (d.1807), was sold by the Trustees of the late Nicholas Meynell, Christie's London, 9 June 1994, lot 67.
This type of arabesque decoration, possibly unique to Carlin, appears both on further porcelain-mounted guridons, such as that with a 1775 Svres plaque stamped by both Carlin and Pafrat but undoubtedly finished by the latter on Carlin's death, now in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London (A. Pradre, Les Ebnistes Franais de Louis XIV la Rvolution, Paris, 1989, p.359, figs 427), as well as on larger case-pieces. This is perhaps most clearly illustrated by the secrtaire and matching commode in the Huntington Collection (R. Wark, French Decorative Art in the Huntington Collection, San Marino, 1961, figs.64-6, p.84-5).
In its basic form, this table corresponds quite closely to the water-colour drawing in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (gift of Raphael Esmerian, 59.611.8, illustrated in F.J.B. Watson, The Wrightsman Collection, New York, 1966, vol.1, p.284), and this would appear to confirm the involvement of Daguerre yet further. Attributed to Richard de Lalonde (flourished 1788-1806), this drawing was one of ten provided by Daguerre to Duke Albert of Sachsen-Teschen and his wife Maria-Christina, brother-in-law and sister of Marie-Antoinette. As Parker (et al., The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, May, 1960, p .281) has convincingly argued, the highly finished character of these drawings suggests that they were made as 'sales material' for the dealer's clients rather than as working designs for an bniste.
In the inventory drawn up with the help of both Leleu and Nicolas Petit following Carlin's death in 1785, Trois tables rondes et une ovale entrejambes et tablettes entre les pieds plaques en marqueterie, garnie de leurs bronzes sans tre dores, estimes les quatres ensemble quatre cents livres are recorded, Interestingly, the name of the ciseleur-doreur S. Prevost is also mentioned pour ouvrages de sa profession par lui faites pour le dit sieur Carlin 679l, and it is a possibility, therefore, that the latter may have been responsible for the gilt-bronze mounts on this table.
Arguably the most celebrated bniste of the Louis XVI period, Martin Carlin appears to have worked almost exclusively for the marchands-merciers. Married to the sister of Jean-Franois Oeben in 1759 and established au signe de la Colombe in the Grand-Rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine, Carlin shortly afterwards entered into the longstanding relationship with Simon-Philippe Poirier that would dominate his career. On Poirier's death, Dominique Daguerre succeeded to the business in the rue St. Honor, and it was almost certainly Daguerre who commissioned the Alexander table circa 1775-80.
With its characteristic floral arabesque 'rinceaux' marquetry to the undertier, this table appears to be identical to the Svres porcelain-mounted table in the Collection of Baron Guy de Rothschild at the htel Lambert, Paris (C.Frgnac and J.Wilhelm,
The Great Houses of Paris, London, 1979, front cover and opposite
p.75). Two further tables of almost identical model, stamped by Carlin but veneered with dot-trellis parquetry and with Svres porcelain tops, are recorded:- the first, undoubtedly supplied by Daguerre to the Grand-Duchess Maria-Feodorovna, was sold anonymously at Christie's Geneva, 8 May 1973, lot 61; the second, possibly also acquired from Daguerre by Francis Gilson Shepheard (d.1807), was sold by the Trustees of the late Nicholas Meynell, Christie's London, 9 June 1994, lot 67.
This type of arabesque decoration, possibly unique to Carlin, appears both on further porcelain-mounted guridons, such as that with a 1775 Svres plaque stamped by both Carlin and Pafrat but undoubtedly finished by the latter on Carlin's death, now in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London (A. Pradre, Les Ebnistes Franais de Louis XIV la Rvolution, Paris, 1989, p.359, figs 427), as well as on larger case-pieces. This is perhaps most clearly illustrated by the secrtaire and matching commode in the Huntington Collection (R. Wark, French Decorative Art in the Huntington Collection, San Marino, 1961, figs.64-6, p.84-5).
In its basic form, this table corresponds quite closely to the water-colour drawing in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (gift of Raphael Esmerian, 59.611.8, illustrated in F.J.B. Watson, The Wrightsman Collection, New York, 1966, vol.1, p.284), and this would appear to confirm the involvement of Daguerre yet further. Attributed to Richard de Lalonde (flourished 1788-1806), this drawing was one of ten provided by Daguerre to Duke Albert of Sachsen-Teschen and his wife Maria-Christina, brother-in-law and sister of Marie-Antoinette. As Parker (et al., The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, May, 1960, p .281) has convincingly argued, the highly finished character of these drawings suggests that they were made as 'sales material' for the dealer's clients rather than as working designs for an bniste.
In the inventory drawn up with the help of both Leleu and Nicolas Petit following Carlin's death in 1785, Trois tables rondes et une ovale entrejambes et tablettes entre les pieds plaques en marqueterie, garnie de leurs bronzes sans tre dores, estimes les quatres ensemble quatre cents livres are recorded, Interestingly, the name of the ciseleur-doreur S. Prevost is also mentioned pour ouvrages de sa profession par lui faites pour le dit sieur Carlin 679l, and it is a possibility, therefore, that the latter may have been responsible for the gilt-bronze mounts on this table.